Alia Bhatt’s Ex-Assistant Arrested in ₹77 Lakh Fraud Case Involving Forged Bills and Identity Misuse

Alia Bhatt’s ex-personal assistant, Vedika Prakash Shetty, aged 32, has been apprehended for defrauding the Bollywood actor of approximately ₹77 lakh. The misappropriation of funds, precisely ₹76.9 lakh, was carried out through her production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions Private Limited, as well as through Ms. Bhatt’s private accounts. The deception reportedly occurred over a span of more than two years, from May 2022 to August 2024. The wrongdoing surfaced after Alia Bhatt’s mother, actor and director Soni Razdan, submitted a formal complaint to Juhu police on January 23. Following this, an FIR was lodged under charges of criminal breach of trust and cheating, triggering a manhunt for Vedika Shetty.

Vedika served as Ms. Bhatt’s personal assistant from 2021 to 2024, a role that gave her extensive access to confidential financial records, invoices, and daily schedules. According to law enforcement officials, she exploited this access by fabricating spurious bills and manipulating Bhatt into signing them under the pretense that the expenses were for professional purposes such as travel itineraries, business meetings, and logistical arrangements.

Investors have uncovered that Shetty employed sophisticated forgery techniques and enterprise-grade graphic tools to make the counterfeit bills credible. Once signed, the payments were rerouted to a third-party account belonging to a close associate of Shetty, who would then funnel the funds back to her, forming a meticulous financial loop.

Police sources also confirmed that Shetty exhibited a pattern of strategic evasion post the complaint. She adopted a nomadic approach, shifting locations across Rajasthan, Karnataka, Pune, and ultimately Bengaluru to dodge the authorities. Her movements displayed a level of calculated furtiveness, often aided by cloaked identities and digital camouflage.

Despite these tactics, the Juhu police managed to track her down in Bengaluru using advanced cyber-tracing protocols and geo-location surveillance tools. Upon capture, she was escorted to Mumbai under a transit remand, where she now faces judicial scrutiny.

This case has not only spotlighted the growing vulnerabilities in celebrity financial ecosystems but also emphasized the need for more stratified verification mechanisms especially in inner circles. The incident serves as a stark reminder that betrayal can be incubated in proximity, and trust, once misplaced, can carry grave ramifications.

Spurious: False or fake; counterfeit

Itineraries: Planned travel schedules or routes

Forgery techniques: Methods used to create fake or fraudulent documents

Enterprise-grade: Professional or high-level, often used in business/IT context

Strategic evasion: Careful planning to avoid capture or detection

Furtiveness: Secrecy attempting to avoid notice or attention

Transit remand: Legal process to move an accused from one jurisdiction to another

Stratified verification: Layered or multi-level authentication or checking process

Incubated in proximity: Developed or emerged within a close or trusted circle